Sensex off opening highs; PSU Bank index down 2%, heavyweights gain

PSU banks came under pressure in morning after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised the new stressed assets framework asking banks to resolve defaults within 180 days.

Further, starting February 23, banks must immediately identify the defaults and make disclosures every Friday to the RBI credit registry.

Reacting to the news, public sector banks got hammered the most in morning trade. The Nifty PSU Bank index slipped 2 percent compared to 0.5 percent fall in the Nifty Bank index, and 0.5 percent decline seen in Nifty Private Bank index.

In the PSU Bank index, Punjab National Bank slipped 4 percent, followed by Bank of India which was down 4 percent, State Bank of India slipped 1.7 percent, IDBI Bank was down 2.7 percent, and Syndicate Bank slipped 2.6 percent so far in the trade today.

The revised stressed asset framework would lead to accelerated and early recognition of NPAs in the banking system and would require higher provisioning expense, suggest experts.

United Bank of India has inaugurated 13 new branches at Raebareli district in state of Uttar Pradesh. With this, the bank now has 15 branches in the Raebareli district. The bank has rapidly expanded its branch network in the current financial year in Uttar Pradesh by opening 25 new branches. With this, the total number […]